AWS/WEMCO Appoints Lincoln Electric Director to Chair Committee

The American Welding Society (AWS) (Miami, FL) and WEMCO has named Lincoln Electric‘s (Cleveland, OH) director of marketing Phillip Wittke to serve as chair of its Image of Welding Committee. This high-profile committee is part of the Welding Equipment Manufacturers Committee (WEMCO), a standing committee of AWS.

The Image of Welding Committee serves as a catalyst and thought leader in driving industry efforts to raise the overall profile of welding as a career and communicate to potential candidates the numerous opportunities that exist.

“There are myriad issues affecting the availability of skilled workers in the welding industry – baby boomers are aging, displaced workers need retraining opportunities and generation Y (millennials) are looking for cool, technology-driven career choices,” says Wittke. “These factors are combined with common misconceptions in the work place about what a welding career looks like. In my new role, I look forward to working with the committee and its respective strategic partners to implement strategic programs and initiatives that will raise the positive profile of welding and make it a desirable career choice.”

In addition to serving as chair of the Image of Welding Committee, Wittke will also serve as a member of WEMCO’s executive board. He has more than 24 years of experience in the welding industry in five different countries. He joined Lincoln Electric in 2001 as managing director of Greater China, responsible for the day-to-day management of Lincoln’s operations in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Prior to joining Lincoln, he held various management and technical positions in Australia, Indonesia and Thailand in the welding industry.

Wittke holds a master’s of business administration degree from Henley Management College at Brunel University in London and a number of welding related qualifications.

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